U.Okay. lawmakers expressed frustration Wednesday that funds from the sale of the Chelsea soccer membership have not but gone to assist Ukrainian struggle victims as had been promised practically two years in the past by the previous proprietor, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.
Mr. Abramovich offered Chelsea in 2022 after being sanctioned by the British authorities for what it referred to as his enabling of Russia’s “brutal and barbaric invasion” of Ukraine.
He pledged to donate the £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) from the sale to victims of the struggle. But virtually 20 months later, the funds are still frozen in a checking account in an obvious disagreement with the British authorities over how they need to be spent. The stalemate highlights the problem for Western governments to make use of frozen property for Ukraine — even these that have been pledged by their proprietor.
“We are all completely baffled and frustrated that it has taken so long,” said Lord Peter Ricketts, chair of the European Affairs Committee in the upper chamber of the U.K. parliament, which produced the report.
“We can’t understand why either Abramovich or the British government didn’t ensure that there was more clarity in the original undertaking which… would avoid arguments about exactly who in Ukraine would get this money,” Mr. Ricketts mentioned.
The deadlock “displays badly on each Mr. Abramovich and the Government,” the report said.
The frozen funds still belong to Mr. Abramovich, who sold Chelsea to a consortium fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly. To move the funds, Mr. Abramovich must apply for a license that the British government has said is contingent on the money being used for “exclusively humanitarian purposes in Ukraine.”
At the time of the sale, Mr. Abramovich said in a statement that the money would be transferred to a foundation — yet to be created — which would be “for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.”
That could include Ukrainians outside Ukraine, and lawmakers have heard evidence to suggest that Mr. Abramovich “also perhaps foresaw it being used in Russian controlled parts of Ukraine as well,” Mr. Ricketts said. He said the British government would veto any such move.
A former chief executive of Unicef U.K., Mike Penrose, who was appointed to head the foundation that will control the funds when it is agreed they can be unfrozen, told Associated Press that use of the money in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine would not be permitted because it would contravene existing sanctions.
The terms of the agreement between the British government and Mr. Abramovich are not public but the deal foresaw the money being used to help those suffering from “the consequences of the Ukraine war,” Mr. Penrose said. That could include refugees in Europe as well as those suffering from food shortages in Africa following disruption to food supply routes, he said.
In December, Mr. Abramovich lost a challenge against the European Union’s decision to issue a travel ban and freeze his assets in the bloc. When the EU sanctioned Mr. Abramovich, it accused him of having “privileged access” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and of “maintaining very good relations with him.”
Mr. Abramovich has tried to hold out a balancing act because the struggle started, analysts say. He has positioned himself as a intermediary between Russia and the West, facilitating prisoner swaps and — the Kremlin mentioned in March 2022 — served as a mediator accepted by Russia and Ukraine in negotiations.
“Of the high-profile oligarchs, Abramovich is the one who, over the past two years, has managed to efficiently maintain a foot in each camps,” mentioned Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies on the Royal United Services Institute in London.
Mr. Keatinge urged that Mr. Abramovich may shrink back from any association by which all the Chelsea funds are spent in territory managed by the Ukrainian authorities — versus humanitarian initiatives elsewhere — as a result of that may put him in “conflict” with the Kremlin.
Mr. Penrose disagreed, saying he has not seen any indication that Mr. Abramovich was making an attempt to steer the funds in a approach that seeks “to curry favor with the Kremlin.”
Mr. Penrose mentioned he hoped an settlement could possibly be reached quickly and urged the funds are actually caught in a “bureaucratic gap,” because the U.K. had agreed with the E.U. that the funds could only be used for projects inside Ukraine.
Thus far, Western nations have struggled to use billions of dollars of sanctioned Russian sovereign or private assets to help Ukraine.
The Chelsea funds are an important “case study of the challenge that we face in trying to use frozen assets for the benefit of Ukraine,” Mr. Keatinge said.
An agreement between Mr. Abramovich and the British government could set “a precedent for others to be able to donate, in a voluntary way for humanitarian good in Ukraine,” Mr. Ricketts mentioned.
In the report Wednesday, the U.Okay. lawmakers additionally really helpful that the U.Okay authorities take into account introducing a course of for reviewing sanctions on people in the event that they meet sure circumstances, corresponding to offering assist for reconstruction of Ukraine.
